Running Away isn't as Easy as it Looks
by 783c9v3s
Summary: Gabriella is trapped in an abusive home. At school she experiences verbal and physical abuse. But then Troy Bolton comes to town and changes her world. But can he save her in time, and get her to open up about her past. The M rating stands for itself.
1. Chapter 1

Not a Regular Day

6:00am

That was the time Gabriella would wake up every morning. Cathy was passed out and wouldn't wake up for a few more hours, Jim was asleep and would wake up at eight, and she was free to go to school without anything happening in the morning, at least at home.

You see, Gabriella was adopted when she was fifteen. She was basically adopted to be a free maid and punching bag for Jim. Which is rather stupid, considering the fact that they're rich as hell and Jim goes to a gym every day.

Jim and Cary Walling: the perfect socialite, respected, and well known married couple. They adopted Gabriella from a really poor orphanage that no one really knew about. Hence forth, no one knows where Gabriella came from, and no social services know about her because her orphanage wasn't listed.

Jim is a very strong looking man, and also very handsome. He's rather tall and strong chinned. He's always very serious and mean around Gabriella, but when he's out, he's a smiling, laughing and friendly kind of guy. Short light brown hair and grayish blue eyes, a good build and white sparkling teeth. He's the CEO of a major corporation, and makes a lot of money. He's a very well respect man in their community and a lot of the kids around the neighbor hood admire him. If only they knew what he was really like.

Cary is a beautiful woman, with medium length red hair, bright green eyes, a slim figure, and breast implants. She orders Gabriella do to a lot of stuff, but she doesn't hit Gabriella as much as Jim does. Cary is unemployed and proud of it. She's never worked a day in her life, and doesn't plan to. She's the kind of woman you would find at an adult tea party, or at a really expensive country club. Gabriella doesn't like her, but would never tell her that.

The only thing that Gabriella has ever thanked them for is letting her go to school. Gabriella loves to learn new things; especially History and Science.

Gabriella chose to keep her last name, which is Montez. She doesn't like the name Walling, she doesn't want the name either. But everyone at school knows her as Gabriella Walling, considering the fact that that's her name in her file.

Gabriella wears jeans everyday, and a long sleeved button down shirt that is like a giant tent over her. Mainly so no one can see the bruises on her body, or the cuts on her arm. But also because she likes to be in a big shirt, it doesn't touch the bruises, because when it does it stings a tiny bit. She doesn't really care that much because she gets worse pain everyday, but it's a distraction at times.

Gabriella also cuts herself. She's knows it's pain, but it's a different kind of pain. It makes her forget about Cary, Jim, and East High. There are a few holes in Gabriella's room from her hitting the walls. She has a lot of anger in her, which would surprise most people because she doesn't look like the kind of person to ever get angry.

When Gabriella was thirteen, she witnessed her father get murdered. Her father, Richard Montez, whom Gabriella loved dearly, was killed by police officers after being accused of being in a notorious Mafia, which he wasn't really in; at least Gabriella didn't think he was. She thought he had only done them a few favors because they were his friends, and he didn't know they were part of a big Mafia gang. When, actually, her father was the head of the Mafia, and she didn't even know. Most of the members in the gang considered Gabriella as their niece, and Gabriella remembers every one of them like it was yesterday, even though she hasn't seen them for four years. She never met her mother though, she never asked about her, and never cared.

She does remember the Mafia accompanying her to her father's funeral. They were her family, and Gabriella loved them like they were really her uncles. But, after her father died, she blocked them out of her life. They did however bring her to an orphanage since she refused to live with them. She blames them for her father's death, and she isn't afraid of them. She knows they don't have the guts to kill her, they love her, and she doesn't know it, but they keep a close protective watch over her.

There are certain things that Gabriella doesn't do. She doesn't cry, she doesn't yell, she doesn't wear skirts, doesn't use makeup, she hasn't smiled since she was thirteen (except in Betty's), and she doesn't talk unless she has to. These are the things she's become accustomed to. The no skirts and no makeup thing are her own because she just doesn't like those things anyway. But she hasn't cried since her father died, and she doesn't know why. She knows she should cry everyday from the pain. But she doesn't, she just stays silent.

She also never takes off the most precious thing she owns; a necklace that her father gave to her the night before he died. It's a small silver locket. Inside is a picture of her father and on the other side is a picture of all the men she considered her uncles. Even though she refuses to be in the same room as them, she still loves them. She never, and I mean never, takes it off.

Gabriella's voice is also very soft and quiet when she talks. Probably because she doesn't really want to be heard, or because she's partly afraid, but if you asked Gabriella, she'd say that she's never afraid of anything.

No one knows about the abuse she takes everyday. When Jim's on a business trip, Cary usually beats her, and not to mention the bullying and physical abuse she gets at school. That's right, everyday Gabriella is thrown against lockers, harassed, verbally abused, and of course beaten. It's not nearly as bad as it is at her home, but she still doesn't like it. Only the girls at school physically hurt her, the boys just verbally hurt her, but there are some boys that like to push her around.

The students at East High judged Gabriella the moment she stepped in their school. She didn't speak to anyone, she didn't smile, and that made her an outcast. She's the only outcast in her school, and that makes her a major target.

Gabriella actually is a person with many strong opinions. If someone actually had a conversation with her, they'd see that she has a very strong voice, but she wouldn't talk to someone like that unless she knew them really well.

Anyways

Gabriella slowly got up, feeling the pain from the night before as she pushed the sheet off her. She got up and looked at the bruises on her legs and arms and sighed. They weren't as bad as usual. Luckily, Jim was drunk last night, so her beating wasn't as bad, but it still hurt.

She grabbed her glasses on the table and put them on carefully as she got up with a little wince before putting her arms on either side of her tank-top and braced herself. She held in a breath and closed her eyes as she lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. Luckily her breasts don't get damaged during her beatings; that would really, really hurt.

She then picked up her bra and winced slightly at the pain from her arms, and the strap going over a newly forming bruise. She reached for her boxers and slowly pulled them down, feeling the pain from the bruises hurt like hell. She silently groaned at the pain before stepping out of the boxers and putting on new boy-shorts. She reached for her jeans and put them on with a tiny groan. It hurt even more because of the material, but it was worth it if no one could see the bruises.

Grabbing a tank top from her little dresser, she put it on carefully. Gabriella always wears a little under shirt, just in case she gets wet during school. She's had paint thrown on her, water, and not to mention milk. And when water it thrown on her, her shirts usually basically become see-through, and she's already had an incident when someone almost noticed her bruises because her shirt was see-through.

Gabriella then looked over her over large light blue buttoned down shirt, making sure that it had no blood on it. After a quick look over, she put it on. She looked at herself in her little mirror as she buttoned the shirt up. She walked closer to the mirror and put her chin up to see her neck. The strangulation marks were still there. She thought she was going to be strangled to death, turns out; Jim wanted to keep her around longer, so he only made her unconscious. She put the collar up to hide the marks and grabbed the brush with a sigh.

She took out a few tangles while staring at herself in the mirror. She was trapped, and she knew it. Jim or Cary could kill her any minute, and then they would get a new kid. But they had one little fault in their plan. Gabriella skipped a grade, and she didn't tell them. They're probabaly going to kill her on her eighteenth birthday, but they don't know that she's not going to be there.

Gabriella hopes her plan will work. She just feels so lost though, like she doesn't know what to do. She should have run away years ago, but she didn't, and she doesn't know why. She should have told the police, or at least a teacher, but she never did. After brushing her hair she looked at it for a second. She really was thankful that it was so long. It hid some bruises sometimes, and that always helps.

She grabbed her backpack and sighed deeply as it pushed against some of her bruises. She went over to the stairs and pushed them down. That's right, she lives in the attic. She walked down them slowly, making sure not to make a sound.

When she got to the bottom she walked down the little hallway and looked inside Cary and Jim's room to see them asleep. She walked quickly down the stairs to the first floor and went to the kitchen.

Rummaging around to find the eggs and milk, Gabriella realized that she would have to go to the grocery store after school. She quickly made the food and placed them on the table with the forks and knifes.

She couldn't help but have her fingers linger over one of the knives. Jim stabbed her in the leg once, he was drunk that time. It hurt like hell.

Gabriella took a quick look at the table and was satisfied with her work. She grabbed her backpack again and walked out the door.

That's what she did every morning. Every morning Gabriella does the exact same thing, and the rest of the day goes pretty much into a schedule too. But if Gabriella had her way, there wouldn't be a schedule. She'd go live in the mountains, or the beach, or even in a tree, where everyday all she would have to do is relax, sleep, and write novels.

Outside you could see the sun peaking, Gabriella stared at it blankly before continuing to walk down the street. She took out her MP3 player, which she got by working as a waitress, and turned it up full blast. Jim and Cary never give her money, not even a little. Gabriella always buys their food with her money.

Gabriella works at an old diner called Betty's. Only old people go there, and Gabriella likes old people. She thinks they have a lot of wisdom, and she loves to listen to their old stories. The people in Betty's are the only people that Gabriella actually socializes with. She has work after school this day, and work at Betty's is the only thing she ever looks forward to, and it's the only place she smiles.

Gabriella continued walking to school while listening to the Above and Below by The Bravery. Gabriella loves The Bravery; their lyrics match her life almost exactly. She mouthed the words to the song as she saw the sun rise even higher.

She saw East High in the distance and then looked at her little watch, which she bought with her own money. The school buses were about to arrive, and she was still outside. She couldn't run because her leg hurt like hell, so she would have to subdue some verbal torture before lunch time when it would get more physical.

Three buses came up and two cars did to. One was pink convertible, and Gabriella knew that Sharpay Evans, Taylor Mckessie, Kelsi Neilson, and Monica Forman were in that car, she knew because she's been locked in their trunk a few times.

The other car was a black truck in very good shape; this had Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, Jason Dolly and Ryan Evans.

Those girls and those guys ruled the school, and Gabriella couldn't care less about them. But she's their favorite person to have "fun" with.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show her ugly face today." Sharpay said as Gabriella tried to walk past them.

Gabriella moved to one side and Kelsi blocked her way, she moved to the other side and Monica blocked her way, they both had evil smiles on. Taylor stood next to Sharpay with her arms crossed and asked with sarcasm, "What did you do this spring break, expect read like the geek you are?"

Gabriella didn't answer; she sighed and tried to walk past them. "God, you still don't talk. Either you're too stupid, or you're just a freak." Kelsi said as Sharpay began to circle around Gabriella.

"You're still fat too." Sharpay said with an annoying giggle as she stood in front of Gabriella again.

Gabriella actually isn't fat; her big clothes just make her look fat. If you take off the big button up shirt, you would see perfect curves, perfect breasts, and tons of bruises. But she also has a very low self esteem, and also doesn't care about the way she looks.

Gabriella doesn't know why they pick on her, she never does anything to them, and yet, they just push her around, whenever they feel like it. She can't fight Jim, so she certainly can't fight a group of people, plus, she's much too weak.

She's is however, surprised that they were attacking her in front of the school, they usually only push her around in the halls, mainly because there are teachers in front of the school.

Gabriella was right though, they only wanted to mess with her a tiny bit, and they left as soon as they saw a teacher walking their way. "See you later loser." Monica said as they walked away. The group of boys didn't come over to her because a teacher was walking right behind her.

And yet, no one saw the black Camino on the side walk across the street.

Gabriella walked into school, and didn't witness what was happening in the group of popular people.

"Hello girls." Chad said as the group of boys approached the group of girls at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

"Hello boys." Taylor said as she jumped into Chad's arms. Kelsi jumped into Jason's arms, Sharpay jumped into Zeke's arms, and Monica jumped into Ryan's arms.

"I heard there's going to be a new kid today, he's a senior too, and I hear he's hot." Sharpay said as the girls sat on their guy's laps and went to their girl talk that the boys briefly enter once in a while.

"What are we?" Chad asked as for the guys.

The girls looked at their guys for a few seconds before turning back to the conversation. "I hear he moved here because his parents kicked him out of the house, and now he's living with his grandparents." Kelsi said as they forgot about their guys and continued to talk about all the information they had on the new kid, wither it was true or not.

"I'd die before living with my grandparents. They're so boring." Sharpay said as Ryan rolled his eyes.

"I bet his are boring too." Monica said with a little giggle.

"Yeah but I heard that his Dad is a famous coach, and his mom works for Prada."

Some of the girls scoffed before Sharpay said, "Yeah right. That's like the perfect family. No way does this new kid have that great of a life." Sharpay's dad was the owner of a major corporation, but her mother just goes to parties and benefits.

Two seconds later, the bell rang. The girls gave their guys a quick kiss before going into school. The guys however stayed, they always waited one minute after the warning bell until going to class.

~*~

Gabriella always sits in the back corner, always. No one every sits next to her, and she likes that, but someone does sit in front of her.

Gabriella loves to write novels, she's made about seven so far, and she's on her eighth one at the moment. All of her books are about a twenty four year old witty detective named Richard Jones, after her father, he solves the crimes that no one else can, and he's a single father to two children. The one she's working on know is about a serial killer that's Jones later recovers is a woman, and she kills seven year old boys with red hair after raping them, and they're always found on their parents front door horribly mutilated and naked. She puts some great humor at the perfect points too. She's on the last sentence and just finished it when the teacher noticed that she wasn't paying attention.

"Ms. Walling…Ms. Walling…….Gabriella!" Mr. Johnson said at the front of the class. Everyone turned to the back and looked at her as she finally looked up. "Would you like to share what you're working so hard on, because it must be more important then what I'm teaching." He said as he walked over to her desk in the back.

Gabriella pulled her book close to her and shook her head while quietly saying, "Not really."

Mr. Johnson grabbed the book out of her hand easily and started to read from it. After twenty seconds of silence, Mr. Johnson looked up from her book and asked, "You wrote this?"

Gabriella nodded her head slowly before looking down at her desk and quietly saying, "Yes sir."

Mr. Johnson flipped through a few pages and after a few more seconds said, "I'm going to borrow this; I'll give it to you later." He walked back to the front of the room and started to read the book.

Gabriella wanted to stop him, but she couldn't find the words to do it. She doesn't let anyone read her books, but how can you say no to a teacher. After a few minutes of nothing, Taylor interrupted Mr. Johnson's reading by asking, "Mr. Johnson, you were saying something about a new student and a project."

Mr. Johnson looked up from Gabriella's book and said, "Oh right…To start this year off, I'm going to pair you up and the two must make a two hundred page story, about anything, but it has to have a plot, characters, dialog, and at least one sub-plot. It'll be due in three weeks."

Gabriella gulped. She would have to work with someone, that means someone would have to come to her house, and she would have to talk to them a lot, and share ideas.

"What about the new student?" Sharpay asked with a smile.

Mr. Johnson looked back up from the book and said, "When he gets here I'll talk about him."

"Hello? Is this English 12?" Troy Bolton, the new kid, asked as he stood at the door.

Mouths dropped, Troy was, without a doubt, the hottest thing to walk through that door. He was wearing a leather jacket, a white t-shirt, dark jeans, and black sunglasses hanging off his shirt, a few books in his hands, and he couldn't have looked any hotter. His shaggy hair was the most beautiful color of sandy brown, and you couldn't see his eyes because of the sunglasses, but he still looked like the hottest thing on the planet. Gabriella thought he looked very hot, but she didn't want to think about him because she knew he wouldn't ever like someone like her.

"Ah. Mr. Bolton…Nice of you to join us." Mr. Johnson said as Troy handed him a piece of paper.

"Sorry I'm a little late. The principle wanted to talk to me." Troy said as he stood their and didn't look at the students that he knew were staring at him.

"It's ok; we were just discussing our first project of the year…I'm Mr. Johnson, and you must be Mr. Bolton." Troy nodded his head and Mr. Johnson continued. "You can take a seat next to Mr. Danforth." Chad raised his hand and Troy took the seat next to him. "The project is a two hundred page story that you have to write with a partner." Mr. Johnson said quickly

"Do we get to choose our own partners for the project?" Jenna asked while giving a quick glance to Troy.

"No…Jenna, you will be with Ryan. Monica, you will be Jason. Sharpay, you will be with Chad. Taylor, you will be with Zeke. Kelsi, you will be with Jake. Tina, you will be with George. Michelle, you will be with John. And Gabriella, you will be with…Troy." It just so happens to be a small English class.

Gabriella dropped her pen as her partner was called. Why did it have to be boy girl pairing, she could have dealt with a different boy coming into her home better then the new kid. He'd want to know her name and her "parents".

Everyone went to sit with their partners, and Troy looked around and saw that the only girl without a partner must be his partner. He did a double take on her and thought he was dreaming. Never had he seen a girl so beautiful. Her long black hair looked enchanting, and her glasses made her looked sophisticated, yet sexy.

He got up and walked over to her desk. Gabriella saw a shadow over her desk and looked up; her brown eyes met his electrifying blue eyes. "Hi. I'm Troy." He said as he held his hand out.

Gabriella looked at his hand. He wanted to shake her hand. She slowly and cautiously raised her and to meet his. He smiled at her and took her hand while slowly shaking it. Gabriella felt a tiny spark go through her, but she didn't notice it. She was focused on the fact that his grip was soft and gentle; she's never felt that kind of touch before. "I'm Gabriella." She said quietly.

Her hand was so soft and small. It fit perfectly into his big manly hand. "It looks like I'm your partner. Do you wanna get started?" Troy said warmly.

Gabriella got ready to write and kept her head down while asking, "What genre do you want it to be?"

Troy just thought of two random genres that just happened to be his favorite. "How about Horror and Comedy?"

Gabriella already had a great idea in her mind. "Ok. A married couple and their thirteen year old son go on vacation in a really old house. After the wife finds out that the husband has been having an affair for years, she goes crazy and tries to kill him in the most horrifying of ways, all the while, their son stumbles upon an old legend about the house which is about a psychotic man who killed many families in the house and when he finally went to court, he said that the butterflies told him to do it so he could drink the people's blood in order to survive the bugs that are going to eat his brains."

Troy looked at her blankly before saying, "That sounds…great. How did you come up with that so quickly?" Gabriella didn't answer him, and she went to writing. Troy just watched her write; she was so fast, as if she knew the story already. "How is it going to be a comedy?" He asked after a few minutes.

"The wife is going to try and kill him and the whole time he doesn't know about it. He thinks that she doesn't know about his affair, so he goes through the days normally, and she makes contraptions to try and kill him, but somehow, they always end up killing someone else around them." Gabriella said without looking up.

Troy nodded his head and the bell rang. "I'll meet you after school?" He smiled at her and Gabriella felt her heart flutter for a split second.

Gabriella thought about it for a second. Cary had a gala to go to, and Jim will be working, it was a Saturday after all. "Ok." She said quietly. Troy nodded his head and left while Gabriella put there stuff away. She walked to the front of the class and stood in front of Mr. Johnson, who was extremely into her book. "Mr. Johnson…Can I have my book back please?"

Mr. Johnson looked up and said, "If it's alright with you Gabriella, I would like to finish reading your book."

"Yes Sir." She said before walking out clutching her books to her chest tighter.

Well, school was over, and now she had to go to work, which I mentioned earlier, is the only thing she likes. She walked over to her locker, trying her best not to limp. She put her books in, and before she closed her locker; someone else closed it, hard.

She turned around and saw Jake Wyle and his two goons in front of her. She looked at them blankly for a few seconds before trying to walk past them. Jake and his friends chuckled as she tried to get past them, but she couldn't, and after a few more seconds, Jake pushed her back against the lockers.

"Hey loser, we missed you over spring break, didn't we boys?" Jake said as he and his two friends made a tight circle around Gabriella.

"Yes we did." John Riled said as he caged her in on one side by slamming his palm against the locker on her right.

A hand slammed on the locker to her left while George Tobin said "You can say that again."

Gabriella didn't say a word; she just stood still, closed her eyes and waited for a punch to the stomach. But instead, she felt a rough caress on her neck. The pain was almost unbearable, and if she wasn't used to it, she probably would have screamed in pain, considering the bruises on her shoulders and chest.

"Even though your partner is the new kid, that doesn't mean you can't still do our projects for us too. The As that we have are really looking good for collage, not to mention our sports scholarships that we're obviously going to get." Jake said before he slammed the back of her head on the lockers behind her.

Gabriella would have fallen, but Jake was holding her up by her neck. "But you have partners." She said with as much breath that she could, and they could barely hear her since she was so quiet.

"We've spoken to them; they want you to do the project too." George said with a weird grin. Their partners were the girls that hate Gabriella, and she has to do their homework anyway, but now she had to do all of them.

Gabriella heard a few chuckles as breathing started to become a problem, and then she faintly heard John say, "We'll see you next week."

When Jake let go of her, she slid to the floor and took a deep, but quiet, breath. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. When she opened her eyes, they were gone, and the halls were completely empty.

She stood up slowly, using the lockers for leverage. The school was completely deserted, with the exceptions of a few teachers in their classrooms. She grabbed her backpack that had fallen from her shoulders and checked her locker to make sure it wasn't broken. She sighed before turning to leave, but froze in her place when she heard Troy's voice. "Hey, there you are." She gulped and turned back around to come face to face with Troy. She didn't say anything, she just stared at him. Troy looked at her confused as to why she wouldn't talk. But he pushed it aside and said, "I told you I'd find you after school. So should I come to your house or do you want to come to mine?"

She leaned her head to the side, and Troy thought she looked cute. Then she remembered their project. "Oh. Actually, I have to go to work, so maybe tomorrow."

"Where do you work?" Troy asked with a tiny smile as he put on hand in his pants pocket.

This was weird, Gabriella's never had anyone ask her questions with a smile, or even really talk to her. "Betty's." She said quietly.

"What's Betty's?" Troy asked stepping a tiny bit closer to her, so he could hear her better.

"It's a little diner…I have to go now." Gabriella said as she turned and started to walk away.

Troy noticed she had a tiny limp, so he caught up with her easily while saying, "Maybe I can come with you. We can work on our project, and I'm kinda hungry."

Gabriella stopped walking and turned her head to the side to look at Troy, ignoring the pain as her leg accidently hit her other leg, sending shooting pains through her body. She thought about it for a moment before saying quietly, "Ok."

Troy smiled at her and they started walking out. "So I'll just follow your car."

"I don't have a car." She said, with no sadness or anything, just a calm expression.

"Oh…Do you want me to give you a ride?"

This Gabriella really considered. Her leg hurt, and she didn't really want to walk on it at the moment. "Ok." She said with a quiet whisper. Troy thought he barely heard her.

Troy smiled at her again; he was doing that a lot. They got to his car and Gabriella looked at it for a second. It was a nice car, but it was a black El-Camino. No one these days has an El-Camino. "What?" Troy asked as he stood next to her, looking at his car.

"I didn't think people drove El-Caminos anymore." She said quickly and softly before she hurried to the passenger's door and got in the car. Troy was impressed, he's never met a girl that new what kind of car he had by one look. They got in and after a few seconds Gabriella said, "It's a couple blocks away." Troy looked at her and saw her looking straight out the window with no expression on her face. He decided to try and break her silence with a little music. He put in the only CD in his car and went to track 5. Gabriella's looked at the music player in awe and then at Troy before asking, "You know The Bravery?"

Now it was Troy's turn to look at Gabriella in awe. He never met a girl that liked, or knew about The Bravery. "Of course, they're like my favorite band."

Bad Sun was playing and Gabriella said, "This is one of my favorite songs." Troy smiled. He got her to talk. Even if it was only a few words, he still got to hear her voice again.

Troy saw a big sign that said Betty's, and chuckled. He stopped the car in front of the place and Gabriella got out. He grabbed his backpack and followed her in the diner. "Hey Gabi" They were greeted with by a bunch of old people.

Troy stood at the doorway as Gabriella went behind the counter and put her backpack down before putting her little waitress apron on. "Hey Saul, Greg, Willy, Sammy, Lee, Bruce, Doug. How life been treating you guys?" Gabriella said as she grabbed the coffee pitcher and poured them some coffee.

"Can't complain, but my damn kid is trying to put me in an old folks home." Greg said as the other guys nodded.

"My Johnny won't get me in one of those places, at least not while I can still walk." Sammy said as Gabriella smiled.

Bruce was about to say something, but he noticed Troy standing by the door. He elbowed Lee, who was sitting on his left and pointed his head in the direction Troy was. Lee elbowed Doug and did the same. "Who's the boy?" Doug asked Gabriella as she started to make some more coffee.

Gabriella fumbled with the coffee pot and almost dropped it. She turned back to the old men and said, "This is Troy. He's my partner for an English project."

The men looked Troy up and down before Saul said, "Sammy, move your flabby ass over. Take a seat Troy." Troy put his bag down with a smile and sat down next to Saul. Gabriella looked at Troy emotionless as he sat down.

"Coffee?"

Troy looked at Gabriella and saw her holding a cup in front of him. "Yeah, I could use a cup of coffee."

"So Troy, how come we've never seen you around." Lee asked as he took a bite of his eggs. Betty's serves breakfast all day.

Troy took a quick sip before saying, "I just moved here from California."

"What brings you to our town?" Willy asked.

**(I may have forgotten to mention this, but this story is taking place in a town right outside New York City. But only really rich people live there. Betty's is the only building that looks out of place.)**

"My father is coaching the Nicks, and my mother wanted to live here. She's a designer."

Bruce and Greg whistled before Greg said, "That's pretty sweet kid."

Lee patted Troy on the back before asking, "So what's this project?"

"Two hundred page story with a sub-plot." Gabriella said as she put some dishes in the sink.

Bruce chuckled before saying, "Well, you're damn lucky you're partner is Gabi. She's going to be the best author in America as soon as she gets out of his place." Gabriella's written a few short stories for them. They loved them and praise her for them ever chance they get.

"I bet." Troy said looked at Gabriella with a smile. She looked at him confused and expressionless for a second before grabbing a washcloth to go wipe the tables. Troy watched her for a few moments before turning towards the old men at his side. "I've told you about me, but I'd like to ask about you guys, if that's ok?"

Saul stood up slowly and said, "May I introduce" Gabriella groaned with a chuckle before he continued. "The only living soldiers from C-Company's second Battalion, one of the finest Airborne Units in World War Two."

Troy's mouth opened in shock and his eyes widened with a smile. "Wow. The Airborne, that's amazing."

"We were in Normandy, Bastogne, and somewhere in Germany." Doug said with a little chuckle.

"Gabi here is a bit of a hypocrite in that area." Saul said with a little chuckled as Gabriella rolled her eyes.

Troy smiled curiously and asked, "How so?"

"She knows everything about the military. Ranks, history, medals, even the names of every Major, Captain, Sergeant, and Lieutenant in World War Two. But she hates the military."

Troy smiled at her as she argued on her behalf. "That's not entirely true. I hate the military now. World War Two was for a good cause, so was World War One. Vietnam was just stupid. Who are we to tell other countries how to run their people? And don't even get me started on Iraq."

Troy listened to her intently, and with a smile. Even though it looked like he was just staring at her as if she was covered in sparkles and romantic music played in his head, he really was listening to her. "Get started on Iraq." He said as the old men watched him with a smile.

Gabriella looked at him confused. She saw something in his eyes. "It's just about oil, land, and lies." She said before quickly going to take the order of the family that just walked in.

~*~

Three hours later, Gabriella was cleaning off the last table. It was starting to get dark outside, and toady Betty's was closing early.

Now, Troy and Gabriella could work on their project.

"So what do you want to name the characters?" Troy asked with a little smile.

Gabriella was really confused. He almost seemed excited about doing this project with her. This was a first. She didn't really know how to talk to someone smiling at her that wasn't seventy or sixty years old. "Do you want me to decide?" She asked quietly.

Troy was confused, she was smiling when Betty's was open, now she was quiet again and a look in her eyes told him she was a little scared. "If you want to, or we could deicide together. We are both doing this project."

Gabriella stared at him emotionless, but he could tell she was confused. "You want to do the project together?"

Troy chuckled at her question and said, "We are partners."

This was seriously weird. "So we work and decide things together?"

Troy smiled. She looked cute when she was figuring stuff out. "Yes, we work together. You act like you've never had a partner before."

"I always do all the work." She mumbled to herself with her head down, not thinking that Troy would even listen.

But he did listen. "Why do you always do all the work?"

Gabriella didn't think that Troy would listen to her, or answer back, so without thinking she said, "Because I get enough pain at home." She said it with a little giggle, as if it were a joke. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she clamped her hand over her mouth with her eyes open.

Troy just stared at her. "What do you mean by that?"

She stayed silent. All these years she's kept it a secret. No one knew about the pain she gets at home. But one new guy comes and she spills it within their first day knowing each other. "I have to go." She said as she grabbed her backpack, grabbed the keys for Betty's and waited for Troy to step outside.

"What about our project?" He asked, not really wanting to go. Plus he wanted to know what Gabriella meant before.

"We can finish it later. I'll walk home. Now if you'll please leave." She said, surprising herself with how much conviction and confidence there was in her voice.

"At least let me give you a ride home." Troy said as Gabriella locked up Betty's.

Gabriella was going to say something, but first felt her confidence go when she stepped outside of Betty's. She was back to the weak, quiet, and pained Gabriella. And this Gabriella can't say no. "Okay." She said quietly.

Troy was confused how her posture could change in such a short time. A few seconds ago she was standing up straight and had a little gleam in her eyes. But now she was holding her backpack strand like it could save her life, and her head was down.

He opened her side for her and she slowly got in. He started up the car and looked over at Gabriella to see her staring down at her hands. "Two blocks away." She said quietly, not even looking up.

Troy took a few seconds to gather himself from the strange turn of events before stepping on the gas pedal. The ride was in silence, and Troy kept looking at Gabriella every chance he could. But she didn't even move once. She only looked up to see where they were before he asked, "So which house is yours?"

Gabriella motioned her head towards the big white one. "That one." She said weakly, and Troy could have sworn he heard a bit of sadness in her voice. But he didn't think about that too much because he just realized something.

"Hey. My house is right next to yours." Troy said as he pointed to his white house that had a chimney and flowers on the windows.

Gabriella opened her door but stopped before she stepped out to say, "I'll do the project. You don't have to worry about it."

Before Troy could protest, Gabriella left. He sighed before going to park his car in his garage.

Gabriella was dreading coming home. She stayed out a little bit more late then usual because of Troy, but she would never blame him for what was about to happen to her. She can't blame anyone for anything, except herself.

As soon as she opened the doors she heard Cary yell, "JIM!"

Gabriella closed the door as Jim came running in the room. Cary was standing at the bottom of the staircase with her arms folded and her red hair down. Jim was wearing his work suit. He must have just come home.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to make dinner thirty minutes ago." He said in a stern voice as he approached her.

"I'm sorry sir. I had to work." Gabriella said cowering slightly.

"You work was supposed to end ten minutes ago. Where the hell have you been you ungrateful bitch?" Jim said as he picked up Gabriella by her neck and started to slowly choke her. Her toes tried to touch the ground, but she was too high.

She gasped for breath a few times before saying, "I had a project to do for school with a partner."

Jim tightened his hold on her neck and brought his fist to her stomach. "So we let you go to school and you don't even feed us."

He let her drop to the ground and she didn't even bother to clutch her stomach in pain. "No sir. I wanted to finish the project." She lied, and it would cause her more pain, but at least he wouldn't ask her anymore questions.

He kicked her in the stomach and then in her side while Cary just watched from behind. Gabriella didn't cry, she just winced in pain. She felt her consciousness start to slip away every kick but her eyes widened when she head a bottle breaking.

She turned her head and saw Cary walking over to Jim with the broken bottle. She could see the sharp edges of glass and back up against the wall even more. "Hit her with this dear. Then come to bed." Cary said as she hand Jim the bottle before walking up the stairs.

Jim took the bottle with a little smirk before turning to Gabriella. She braced herself for the pain. Jim brought the sharp edge of the bottle to her right shoulder and she cried out in pain for a few seconds before biting her lip to keep the screams in.

He kicked her once more on the shoulder where her deep wound was, and that's what made her almost black out again. She fell again and out of the corner of her eye saw Jim go up the stairs. "Make sure you clean up. I don't want any messes tomorrow morning." He said, just loud enough for her to hear.

Gabriella stayed down for a few more minutes before putting her hands on the wall to try and get up; her right arm had blood dripping down her fingers. She tired to apply pressure on the wall from her right arm, but fell down again in pain. So she used her left arm, and let her right arm hang by her side.

She couldn't clean the mess now, so she would have to do it in the morning. She started to walk up the stairs, trying her best not to get any blood anywhere.

She reached the door to her attic and used her left hand to slowly open it, wincing in pain as she did so. She walked up her stairs, turned on the light and went directly to her bed. She sat down on the edge and took off her shirt slowly, only using her left hand. She looked at the forming bruises, but cared more about checking her wound.

She went to her mirror and turned to her side to see her shoulder. She sighed and picked the few pieces of glass that got stuck in her flesh.

She sighed again as she took out her bandage roll. She started it at the top of her wound and wrapped it around slowly, ignoring the pain the best she could. She finished after a minute or so and took off her bra. She put on a tank-top to try and not disturb her wound, but she didn't take her jeans off. She figured it would be too difficult and painful.

She went back to her bed and turned off the light before staring up at the wooden ceiling and taking three deep breaths. She made sure to sleep right so her right arm wouldn't hurt in the morning, or in the middle of the night.

So this was pretty much a normal day for Gabriella. Except for Troy Bolton, he sure changed things a bit, but the end of the day ended the same way it always does. But she didn't see the person in the attic in the house next to hers looking at her the entire time she got into her "pajamas" and fix up, or at least try and fix up, her wound.

~*~

**If you think I should continue, please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

Better Dead then Sorry

"Troy. Wake up, lunch is ready."

Troy turned in his bed. It's Saturday, and his mother is waking him up in the afternoon. Not to mention, he was having a great dream; something about Gabriella, basketball, the airborne, and a telephone that was in the middle of a lake on a tiny floating table.

He doesn't quiet remember his dreams, but he remembers the key points in them.

"Coming mother." Troy said sarcastically as he pulled the blankets over his head.

Linda Bolton stood in her son's doorway and sighed with a smile. She walked forward and grabbed the bottom of Troy's blanket. She pulled it hard, and almost fell over. It's no doubt Troy's stronger than his mother, and even though she tried, Troy still had his blankets on him.

"Come on honey. I need to talk to you, and your lunch is getting cold."

Troy groaned. "It isn't 1947 mom. They have these things called microwaves now…I can heat it up later."

Linda rolled her eyes. "Troy. I'm serious."

Troy noticed her tone and let go of the blankets. His mother fell on her back and he walked over her. She laid on the ground for a few seconds before jumping up, her dark brown hair flying in her face for a moment. "I'm at the table." Troy yelled from downstairs. She smiled lightly before fixing Troy's bed, knowing that he won't do it.

"You came home late last night. I didn't get to ask you about your first day of school."

Troy took a bite of his eggs and he opened his mouth to speak, but his mother gave him a look, and he swallowed first. "It was fine. I signed up for basketball tryouts, and I got a partner for an English project that is due in a month or so."

"Who's your partner?" Linda asked, listening intently.

"She lives next door. Her name's Gabriella."

Linda nodded her head and said, "Why don't we go over and ask her and her parents to join us for dinner tonight? They are the neighbors after all."

Troy lit up a bit, and his mother noticed. "Okay. Is dad gonna come too?"

"Of course he is. He wouldn't miss lamb night."

"You wanna go ask them after I finish eating?" Troy asked, knowing his mother wanted to ask that at that moment.

She nodded her head and Troy quickly finished his breakfast. He ran back upstairs to get dressed. He put on some jeans and a loose black t-shirt, and checked his hair in the mirror. His mother was at the door waiting for him with a pie in her hand. "Troy. Hurry up." She yelled before Troy came running down the stairs.

"You're giving them a pie?"

"Yes. It's…nice." Linda said with a fake smile. Troy shrugged his shoulders before opening the door for his mom.

It was a very nice day. The sun was out, the birds were singing, and somewhere in the world there was a group of hippies dancing in a grassy field.

Troy knocked on the door, seeing that his mother had a pie in her hand. "Hello?" An attractive red haired woman said as she answered the door with a smile on her face.

"I'm Linda, and this is my son Troy. We're your new neighbors." Troy couldn't help but notice that his mother had a bit of hostility in her voice.

"Oh. I'm Cary, and my husband Jim is in the kitchen. Won't you come in?" Troy let his mother go first as she handed Cary the pie. She led them to the kitchen where Jim was reading the newspaper.

When Jim saw them, he put his newspaper down, stood up and said, "Hello."

"Jim dear, these are our new neighbors, Linda and her son Troy." Cary said, introducing them.

Jim nodded his head. "Welcome to the neighborhood."

Troy was confused that they didn't know who he was. Surely Gabriella told them about him and their project, and why she came home a little late. "I'm Gabriella's partner for the English project. I'm sorry if she came home late, it was my fault."

Jim looked at Troy for a moment. Gabriella lied. She said it was her fault that she came home late. It wasn't much of a lie, but it was still a lie. And he doesn't like it when she lies. "Oh…It's okay. We just like to give her a curfew because she likes to overwork and study past midnight, and we like her to rise and shine in the morning." Jim said, lying easily through his teeth. They've been lying about Gabriella for so long; they don't even hesitate to say the lies anymore. It's become a second nature to them.

"Is Gabriella your daughter?" Linda asked.

Cary smiled. "Yes."

Linda looked around the kitchen. "Where is she?"

"She's sleeping. She likes to sleep in on Saturday." Cary said with a tiny smile and giggle.

Again. Lies.

Gabriella was fixing their beds and taking their dirty clothes from yesterday to the laundry.

Linda looked at her for a moment before saying, "Well we would like to invite you two and your daughter Gabriella over for dinner tonight."

Jim and Cary gave each other a little look. They didn't do that many things with Gabriella socially, but she knew how to act when they did go to parties and dinners. "That would be very nice."

Linda smiled at them, but Troy could tell it was a fake smile. "Great. Well, here's your pie…and we will see you tonight." Troy barely even got to say goodbye. His mother basically dragged him out of their house, and quickly too.

Jim turned towards Cary; he knew what she was thinking. "I'll talk to her; tell her about tonight, and how to be. It's been awhile since we took her out of the house with us."

Cary nodded her head. "I'll give her a dress…There was something about that woman that I didn't like."

"I'm sure it's nothing." Jim said before giving his wife a quick kiss and going to the laundry room. Gabriella was a little surprised when she saw Jim. They never came down to the laundry room. "Gabriella. We are going somewhere tonight."

Gabriella took a breath before asking. "Where, sir?"

"The house next door, for dinner…The boy that lives there, Troy, is your partner for an English project. You forgot to mention him."

Gabriella silently gulped. "I forgot about him, sir."

"You lied. He was the reason you were late." Gabriella closed her eyes for a moment and before she could say something, Jim's hand came up, and she was prepared for the slap, or punch. But when it didn't happen, she opened an eye, looking at him, waiting for him to hit her. She was shocked, to say the least, when he put his hand back down. "I can't hurt you. We're going somewhere tonight, and you need to look presentable. You will be on your best behavior…Cary will give you a dress for tonight."

When he leaved, Gabriella almost fell. She had an encounter with him, and she didn't currently have any blood running down her arm, or new bruises forming. She took a few breaths before quickly finishing up the laundry.

.

"Don't slouch, and remember, you like regular music." Cary said as she pulled the clip that was keeping Gabriella's hair up out.

Gabriella looked down at herself for a moment. Cary had given her a loose white tube-top dress that went down to her knees, it showed her figure perfectly, and a small black thin jacket that stopped at her breasts and went all the way to her wrists. Cary gave her that to cover the bruises on her arms. She felt like a little trophy of theirs, only to show how perfect their family is.

Cary put her arm on Gabriella's shoulder, and she had to keep herself from wincing in pain. Jim knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Linda answered the door. "Hello." Jim and Cary said with small smiles.

Linda invited them in. "Hello. Welcome to our home. Dinner will be ready in a soon, so why don't we go to the living room."

Troy came over and took Cary and Jim's coat and almost fainted at the sight of Gabriella. She looked amazing. Yesterday she was wearing a big t-shirt, now he could see her incredible curves and her breasts were hypnotizing, he cleared his throat and asked for her coat, but when Gabriella didn't give him hers, Linda raised as eyebrow. They went to the large table as Jack, Troy's father, came in. "You must be the Walling's."

Cary smiled. "Yes. I'm Cary; this is my husband Jim, and our daughter Gabriella." Jack shook Jim's hand and gave a little wave to Gabriella.

Jack saw his wife running around in the kitchen and said, "Dinner seems to be almost ready. Why don't we sit down?"

Jack led them to the couches before turning towards Troy. "Why don't you show Gabriella your room?"

Troy saw a look in his father's eye that he didn't understand. But he shook it off and offered his hand to Gabriella. He saw her look at Jim and Cary for a second before slowly putting her hand in his.

Troy smiled and brought her up the stairs to his room and closed the door. He turned back around and saw her standing in the middle of his room, looking at the floor. He walked toward her and lifted her chin up. "You okay?" It was weird how he felt so comfortable with her.

She blinked a few times before nodding her head. "

Jim sat at one end of the table; Jack sat at the other end. Cary and Linda sat next to each other, and next to their husbands, while Troy and Gabriella, the children, sat next to each other on the other side.

"So Jim, what do you do?" Jack asked as he poured himself and Linda some wine before offering it to Cary.

"I'm the CEO of Wall Inc."

Jack nodded his head. "Wow. That's very nice…I'm the head coach for the Nicks. And my wife here is one of the head designers for Prada."

Cary turned towards Linda. "That's amazing. You know, I have a lot of friends in fashion, and I help them out all the time. If you need any references, or help with a line, you can give me a call." Linda faked a little smile as she took a sip of her wine.

Gabriella wasn't having the best time though, she's a vegetarian, and she knew Jim and Cary wanted her to eat the food, or she'd be punished later. She also noticed that Troy kept sneaking glances at her, which she had to admit, she was doing too, but his mother, Linda, kept looking at her too, and it was making her feel uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong Gabriella, do you not like lamb?" Linda asked, noting how she ate the rice, the vegetables and the bread, but not the lamb.

Cary almost dropped her fork. She gave Gabriella a look and tightened her lips. Gabriella silently gulped before slowly picking up a piece of lamb with her fork and brought it up to her mouth. She took a breath and ate it. "No, it's great." She forced herself not to cry. She couldn't believe she was eating a poor innocent lamb.

Troy leaned down to her ear and whispered. "Are you okay?" Gabriella shuddered lightly from his hot breath. She nodded her head with a weak smile and he let it go.

"So, Gabriella, how old are you?" Jack asked before taking a bite of his lamb.

Gabriella took a small breath. She had to lie about his. Or her whole plan would be ruined. "I'm seventeen." Troy raised an eyebrow. If she was seventeen, that means she skipped a grade, or she was lying.

Linda smiled. "That's nice. Troy's eighteen."

Jim put his glass down and asked, "Do you do any sports Troy?"

Troy cleared his throat. "Well, I was accepted on the school's basketball team yesterday, and at my old school, I was captain." Gabriella tilted her head while taking a sip of her water. She didn't know Troy played basketball, but then again, she didn't really know anything about him.

Jack smiled proudly. "State championships three years in a row, only lost four games."

"That's very nice…Gabriella here was a cheerleader her first two years, but for some reason, she just quit." Cary said giving Gabriella a little look.

Linda raised an eyebrow at that. "Why'd you quit?"

Gabriella looked up and said, "I-I um. I just grew out of it I guess." Troy turned her head slightly to look at her. She didn't seem like the cheerleader type. And after spending time with her yesterday, she didn't seem like the school spirit type either.

Fifty minutes later, or so, everyone finished eating, and Linda started to gather up the plates. Cary never does the dishes, so she said, "Gabriella. Help our nice host clear the table."

Gabriella didn't even make a sound, she just stood up, grabbed her plate and Troy's plate. She followed Linda into the kitchen and put the dishes in the sink. Linda took a step back and watched as she rolled her sleeves up and started washing the dishes. Linda took a quiet step forward and saw the cut marks on her wrists.

She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. "So, Gabriella, Troy told me that you work at the Diner Betty's."

Gabriella paused for a second before continuing to wash the dishes. "Yes." She said with as much strength as she could.

Linda sighed, before putting on a little smile. "You know, when I went up to the attic last night to put a few boxes away, I saw something when I looked out the window." Gabriella pulled her sleeves down and looked at the ground. "I saw you, bandaging up your bloody arm…You want to tell me about it?" Gabriella didn't say anything. "When I was a little girl, my father got remarried after my real mother died. And she hit me sometimes. When I told my father, he called the police, and she went to jail. I'll never forgot about it, but with help, I got on with my life healed my bruises."

Gabriella took a breath and took off of the jacket and Linda gasped at the sight. Her arm was bandaged up, but around it was too many bruises and scars to count. Her shoulders looked okay, but her arms were too much. Linda didn't even want to think about the rest of her body. "I…I can't leave them. I don't have anywhere to go."

Linda could barely hear her, she was so quiet and her voice was so soft. Gabriella put her jacket back on and finished up the dishes quickly before going back out to the dinning room to see Cary and Jim standing up looking ready to leave.

Cary nodded at Gabriella to go to the door and she did. She opened it up for her "parents". "It was great to have you over, maybe we can do this again sometime." Jack said as he looked behind him, wondering where his wife was.

Troy smiled at Gabriella. "It was great to see you again Gabriella. We can do our project tomorrow, if you want." Gabriella looked at Jim for a split second before weakly nodding her head.

"Bye." Cary said as Jim closed the door and discreetly pushed Gabriella out.

Troy took a breath before going back the kitchen in search of his mom, his father followed. "Mom?"

Linda hadn't moved since she was Gabriella's bruises. What she saw last night didn't even compare to the pain she saw in that girls eyes. She needed to figure out a way to save her.

She put a little smile on as she gave her son an unexpected hug. He hugged her back after a few seconds and was about to ask a question, but she just smiled at him and patted his cheek before going upstairs to bed.

Troy just raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

.

Cary did not miss the look on Gabriella's face when she came back from the kitchen, and of course she noticed that Linda did not come back out. Something happened in that kitchen, and she knew it wasn't good. She was glad her husband noticed it all too.

As soon as they closed their door Jim pushed Gabriella up against it. "Did you tell that woman Linda anything?" He had Gabriella's throat in his hand, and he kept squeezing. When she didn't answer him, she squeezed a bit harder. "Huh?"

"N-…No sir, I swear." Gabriella said with as much strength as she could.

Cary hated Gabriella the second they got her and that was never going to change. For some weird reason, she just wanted her to suffer all her life, and have bruises all over her so no man would ever want her.

She however, was very tired, and the food in her belly was starting to rest, and it needed to come back up before it turned into fat. So she went upstairs to her and Jim's room, leaving her darling husband to take care of Gabriella.

Jim wasn't tired though, and he was thinking about having a little bit of fun. He pulled the jacket off her and looked at the bandage. He tore it off and threw her against the wall, with her arm hitting the stone hard.

She slipped to the ground, thinking it was over, but he came over and kicked her in the stomach, making her curl in a fetal position. He kicked her again before pulling her up and holding her by the throat so her feet were barely touching the ground. "Let this be a warning…If you ever tell anyone, you will end up dead. That, I can promise you."

Before she could even speak, he ran over to the window and threw her through it. Everything seemed to be in slow motion for her. Jim had never done anything this extreme; he obviously wanted to make a point.

Luckily, her head was turned, so no glass got on her face, but her side had a rather large piece of glass sticking out of it, and her legs had hundreds of cuts on them, her arms too. In a few moments, the blood would seep out of the wounds and it'll look like she was just bathed in blood.

She knew she would pass out from the blood lose if she didn't do something quick, but she could barely move…she didn't want to move. She wanted to scream, cry, fall asleep. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She wasn't gonna let them win like this.

So, she leaned on one side and used her left arm to get on her knees. After a few breaths, she stood up straight, or at least, as straight as she could.

She needed to get the glass out, and her roll of bandaging tape. But it was upstairs in the attic, and she didn't have enough strength to get up there.

Then she remembered Linda. Going there would make questions come up, and it would probably get back to Cary and Jim, but right now, all Gabriella could think about was getting the glass out of her side before she bled to death.

.

Troy sat on the hood of his car, staring up at the stars. He didn't normally see the stars. In the city, there's to much light pollution, but out here, it was almost magical.

But, despite the beauty above him, he couldn't get his mind off another beauty. Just saying her name makes him feel butterflies in his stomach. She was so beautiful tonight, but he couldn't help wonder why she always seemed sad and defeated.

She said that she was going to do their project alone, but he really wanted to do it with her. Not just to hang out with her, but the story she came up with seemed really cool, and would probably be fun to work on together.

Before another thought could cross his mind, he heard something.

It sounded like a moan, a painful moan.

He got off his car and looked to his right, he saw a figure in the shadows, but he couldn't make it out. After a few moments he started to walk towards it. What he saw shocked him to his core. It was Gabriella, struggling to walk over to him with bloody legs and a piece of glass in her side. He couldn't believe it, twenty minutes ago, she was eating dinner in his house, and now she looked like she was about to die, or at least pass out from blood lose.

"Oh god." He murmured before he ran over to her. Gabriella looked up and was going to say something, but at that moment, her legs gave out, and she fell on her side; luckily the side without the piece of glass.

Troy was in too much shock to say something, or call for help. So, he picked her up, bridal style of course, and starting walking towards his house. He didn't run because he didn't want to hurt her, but he did walk fast.

Gabriella could feel the blackness start to take over. She just wanted to shut her eyes and fall asleep, and when she'd wake up, she'd be a little girl again; on her father's lap as they and her uncle's watched Sunday football. But that wasn't gonna happen, and with all the blood she's lost, she highly doubted she'll even wake up if she falls asleep. But keeping her eyes open was getting hard.

Troy couldn't, and didn't want, to put her down, so he kicked open the door and yelled. "MOM, DAD!" He looked down at Gabriella and whispered. "It's gonna be alight. You're gonna be okay Gabi."

A nickname, she's never had a nickname before. It was kinda nice, and a little sweet. She smiled through the pain, lifted her right hand, with all her might, and brought it to his cheek. Troy didn't care that a little blood got on his cheek; all he cared about was Gabriella.

It was a little weird. He met her yesterday, and suddenly, he felt like he was in love with her. There was just something mysterious and different about Gabriella. And now, he felt like he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life, and never let her out of his sight again.

"Oh, god." Linda gasped as she ran towards them. "Put her on the couch." She said quickly before running to the kitchen.

Jack came down and asked. "What's going on?"

Linda came back out with a bowl of water, a washcloth, band-aids, and a lot of bandages. "Call an ambulance, and the police." She said with a slightly angry voice. Jack turned to his left and his eyes popped out at the sight. A few seconds later, he ran to the phone in the other room.

Linda put the bowl down and took a few breaths before landing her eyes on the piece of glass in Gabriella's side. She fought to keep the tears in while saying, "Troy, hold her hand. Keep her awake."

Troy was already holding her hand, and stroking her cheek. He barely even noticed his mother; his focus was completely on Gabriella. He stroked a bit of her hair back as their eyes stayed connected.

Her face still looked perfect though, which told him that Jim knew what he was doing. Don't get bruises on her face, and you won't get caught. He couldn't imagine the pain she endured, or how long she'd been enduring it. Why didn't she tell him? He could have helped her.

The last thing Gabriella remembered before blacking out was sirens and Troy.

.

**I know, it's been a really, really long time. I've just been really, really, really busy. So, I'm sorry, and I don't blame you if you don't review. But please review.**


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